Budget Proposal Cuts Trump’s Wall Plans Short

The Congressional budget to be approved by Friday to avert another government shutdown is cutting President Trump’s wall plans short by a pretty high degree. According to the Associated Press, the proposal calls for US$1.375 billion to be used on the construction of 55 miles of border fence – significantly less than the US$5.7 billion requested by the president to build approximately 200 miles of wall and a far cry from the 1,000 miles that Trump once claimed his border wall would run for.

654 miles of border walls and fences in different styles already exist on the U.S.-Mexican border and another 124 miles have already been approved by Congress, according to the New York Times. Natural barriers like rivers and ridges also run along the Southern U.S. border.

The budget proposal does not include a new limit to the number of undocumented immigrants that can be detained in the U.S. – a topic that Democrats and Republicans have also fought about. The number of beds funded for people detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) would also remain stable at 40,520 if the proposal was to be approved.